Moving To Maturity - Series

Moving To Maturity

Benchmarks In Discipleship

Surrender to Christ

              Acts 8:26-40

Submit to His Teachings

              Colossians 3:1-17

Support the Church

              1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Serve Others

              John 13:1-17

Sacrifice for the Lord

              Matthew 16:21-27

Share Your Faith

              2 Corinthians 5:16-20

Moving To Maturity - Sacrifice for the Lord

Sacrifice for the Lord

Matthew 16:21-27

He is...

              What do we learn about God?

We are ...

              What do we learn about people?

I will...

              What has the Holy Spirit revealed to you in this passage?

              How will you apply it to your life this week?

You can...

              Who do you know who needs to hear this?

Service

              How can we help with a challenge you’re facing?

Luke 12:13-21 -- The Rich Fool

Parables -

Parable of the Rich Fool

Luke 12:13-21

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         William Stringfellow said, "Perhaps the moral ambiguity of money is most plainly evidenced in the popular belief that money itself has value and that the worth of other things or of men is somehow measured in monetary terms, rather than the other way around."

What do the following people have in common?

 Mr. Welch of Welch's Grape Juice

 Mr. J.C. Kraft of Kraft Cheese Corporation

 Mr. Henry P. Crowell of Quaker Oats

 Mr. William Colgate of Colgate Soap

 Wallace Johnson, founder of Holiday Inns

 J.C. Penney of J.C. Penney Stores

 Mr. Albert Hyde of Mentholatum

 R.G. Letourneau of Letourneau College of Engineering

   They all put God first in their life and business. They started off their businesses asking God for wisdom in running them according to Christian principles. They started off giving Him a tithe and graduated to proportionate giving from 15% to over 25% of their profits. They were not content to give God leftovers and God was not content to bless them with leftovers. They were not content to be casual in their stewardship with God but made a pledge upon which they could "test God" according to His promise in Proverbs 3:9-10. "Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine."

The Possessor of heaven and earth placed you here, not as a proprietor, but as a steward.

 Opening Questions — Get Us Thinking:

· If you could have fame, fortune or good looks, which would you choose?

· The following parable shows us the effects of greed. Jesus calls us to share our resources with others for the sake of God’s kingdom.

The Parable of the Rich Fool — Luke 12:13-21

13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

14Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

16And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’

20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

 · Just for fun, if the Rich Fool in the parable (you can call him George Megabucks) lived in your community, what neighborhood would he live in and what kind of car would he drive?

Research Questions — “Dig Deeper” to find God’s Will

1. Deuteronomy 21:17 gave the general rule that an elder son received double a younger one’s portion. Disputes over such matters were normally settled by rabbis. This man’s request of Jesus was selfish and materialistic. There is no indication that the man had been listening seriously to what Jesus had been saying at the first of this chapter. Jesus replied with a parable about the consequences of greed.

2. In response to the man’s plea, Jesus tells a parable. What is the man’s problem? How would you describe this “rich fool?”

□ Clever 

□ Content 

□ Secure

□ Materialistic 

□ A show-off 

□ Immature

□ Brilliant 

□ Unhappy 

□ Dumb

□ Selfish 

□ Lucky

3. What is the man’s solution? Why is he a fool?

4. What was Jesus warning us against when he said, “Watch out!” in verse 15?

5. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry:” (v. 19). What is your attitude toward this philosophy? The attitude of those in your life?

6. How would you respond to the person who says, “Doesn't God just want us to be happy?”

7. What is the punch line of this parable? (v 20-21)

 Reflective Questions — Live it today.

1. Have you ever been like the man in this story?

2. How would this man’s obituary describe him?

□ A tireless worker                               

□ Foolish

□ A success story                                  

□ enterprising

Or another of your  word choice. _______________

3. Advertising is dedicated to making us believe the opposite of verse 15. What differences in lifestyle result from believing Jesus verses advertisements?

4. How can you be “rich toward God” (v 21)?

5. What do you value most in life? (Rank your top 3 choices.)

__ my family 

__ my assets 

__ my friends

__ my work 

__ my integrity 

__ my faith

__ my memories 

__ my time 

__ my good health

6. If Jesus were to ask you the same question as the man in the story, “What have you prepared for yourself,” do you feel good about your answer?

Money is a great servant but it is a lousy god. If you don't manage your money, it will manage you.

Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-18 Parable of the Tenants

Parables -

Parable of the Tenants

Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-18

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         God’s love in sending His Son — What would tempt you to give the baby out of your cradle? Is there anyone you love on earth, mother, that would tempt you to give your baby for that? But what if the child had grown up and had come to man’s estate? Say it had bloomed into fruition and all your hope was on it. What do you love in this world that would tempt you to give this child up as a sacrifice? You might for the country in hours of heroism. Many and many a mother has done a work that was divine when she consecrated her only son and sent him forth into the war, believing that she should never see him again. How many hearts are touched with the thought of this remembrance. But, oh, is there language that can expound such heroism, such zeal, such enthusiasm, as must inhere in the hearts of everyone that can do such work as that? And yet our hearts are small comparatively, and pulseless and shallow, and our human senses, as compared with God, are like a drop of water in comparison with the ocean. And what is the love of God, the Infinite, whose flowings are like the Gulf Stream? What are the depths, and the breadths, and the lengths of the love of God in Christ Jesus, when, looking upon a world that was so degraded and animal like, He gave His only begotten Son to die for it that there might be an interpretation of the love of God to the world.
Christ ungratefully treated —Surely a servant of the government may risk himself in the very heart of a convict prison alone, if he is the bearer of a royal pardon for all the inmates. In such a ease it would not be necessary to look out for a man of rare courage who might dare to carry the proclamation to the convicts. Give him but the message of free pardon, and he may go in unarmed, with all safety, like Daniel in the den of lions. When Christ Himself came to the world-the great convict prison of the universe-came the Ambassador from God, bringing peace-they said: “This is the heir; come, let us kill Him!” He came unto His own, and His own received Him not; and the servant is not greater than his Lord.

Opening Questions — Get Us Thinking:

· If you were an absentee landlord and had to find trustworthy tenants, what would you seek?

The Parable of the Tenants—Matthew 21:33-46

33“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

35“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“ ‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’^h ?

43“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”ⁱ

45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them.46They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Research Questions — “Dig Deeper” to find God’s Will

1. What is the main point of this parable?

2. Why is a husbandman?  What is a watchtower?

3. In this parable, who is represented as the landowner? The vineyard? Tenants? Servants? Son?

4. What was Jesus prophesying by telling this parable? What does it say about Jesus’ authority?

5. How do tenants respond? Why?

6. What corresponds to the son’s death? To the removal of the wretched tenants?

7. What is ironic about verses 42-44? What verse is this a quotation from?

8. How does the parable and the quote affect the religious leaders?

9. At whom does Jesus direct the parable? Why don’t they arrest him? Why don’t they repent and follow Jesus? Why don’t they take action?

10. Why choose this time to tell such a parable?

11. Who will be given the kingdom of God (v. 43)?

Reflective Questions — Live it today.

1. Have your rejected Jesus at a point in your life?

2. How do you handle rejection in your life?

3. How do you make Jesus feel welcome in your life each day?

4. Have you ever felt as though you deserved God’s kingdom?

5. In your life, is Jesus like a capstone (the highest point in your building)? Or is he like a millstone (a weight that drags you down)? In what ways?

6. With whom do you identify in this story? Why?

 Rejecting the creator as he reaches out in love is unthinkable, but all have sinned and need to reach out to God for His grace.

Matthew 22:1-14 Parable of the Wedding Feast

Parables -

Parable of the Wedding Feast

Matthew 22:1-14

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         Invitations are difficult to pass up, and you might not get another one. Jesus has invited everyone to the banquet and He asks us to invite others.

Among the great number of books authored by C.S. Lewis is the highly provocative The Screwtape Letters. In it the profound Englishman had the devil brief his nephew, Wormwood, on the subtleties and techniques of tempting people. The goal, he counsels, is not wickedness but indifference. Satan cautions his nephew to keep the prospect, the patient, comfortable at all costs. If he should become concerned about anything of importance, encourage him to think about his luncheon plans; not to worry, it could induce indigestion. And then this definitive job description: "I, the devil, will always see to it that there are bad people. Your job, my dear Wormwood, is to provide me with the people who do not care."

Christians have the privilege to help others see what they are missing. A family was visiting a cave in the state of Kentucky. The guide led them through many beautiful and winding subterranean passageways. Suddenly he turned off all the lights and said, "I'm the only one who knows how to get back to the entrance. If I left you here, you'd probably never find your way out. Anyone lost in this cave would no doubt become insane within a week from the oppressive loneliness. Be quiet for a moment and feel the darkness!" The dad will always remember his youngster clutching his arm. After about 30 seconds, someone in the party could endure it no longer and cried out, "Turn on the lights! I'm going crazy now!" The guide laughed, but we'll not soon forget that frightening experience. The dad thought of the "outer darkness" of Hell and shuddered!

Our Father of Heaven still invites others to the wedding feast of salvation. Through the Savior's atonement He has provided the perfect garment of righteousness that every sinner needs. We can avoid the horror of blackness that each doomed soul will experience in Hell.

The core problem is not that we are too passionate about bad things, but that we are not passionate enough about good things.

This is Henry Ward Beecher's epigrammatic and convincing phrase, "The elect are whosoever will; the non-elect are whosoever won't."

Opening Questions — Get Us Thinking:

· What can we do to make Christianity a celebration and still do things “in a fitting and orderly way”?

· How can we express in our daily lives the concept that Christianity is serious but not solemn?

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet—Matthew 22:1-14

1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.9So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

13“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Research Questions — “Dig Deeper” to find God’s Will

1. What is the main point of this parable?

2. Why is the banquet held?

3. What do you learn about those originally invited? What is so surprising about their response?

4. Who did the king eventually invite? Why?

5. What were the two types of responses to the third invitation?

6. What is the problem with one guest (vv. 11-12) What does it mean to be in the king’s presence “without wedding clothes”? Why is this ill-clad guest banished?

7. What warnings did Jesus make to the Jews and the Gentiles in his parables?

8. How do those who have accepted the invitation sometimes make it difficult for others to accept?

9. Share your reaction to the idea that church is a celebration?

Reflective Questions — Live it today.

1. Why do people refuse to come to God’s party (celebration) today?

2. If God’s church is a little bit of heaven on earth, what will heaven itself really be like?

3. Imagine that you are standing outside the door where God’s great party is going on. What sounds do you hear?

4. Finish this sentence. Many Christians are missing God’s party because….

5. How can we have fun at a party whose host has such a wrathful side?

6. What is the relationship between our robes of white received from God and the clothes of Christian virtues which we are to develop in our lives? (Revelation 3:4,5 and Colossians 3:9-12; Romans 13:14)

7. What would happen if we saw a more celebrating atmosphere.

8. What are ways the church excludes others from God’s party, making it a private party? What can you do to help someone else receive an invitation?

 There's a party going on! All I have to do is put on the right clothes, and I can go. The party is free, and the host is the King.